World Anti-Doping Agency set to ban painkiller tramadol — UCI moved quickly to ban 'in competition' use in 2019, a ban which saw Nairo Quintana disqualified from this year's Tour de France a month after securing a sixth-place finish cycling
The painkiller has long since been a talking point within the world of professional cycling, with the UCI ultimatelyfinish at the Tour de France after tramadol and its two main metabolites were found in the Colombian's dried blood samples during the race.Quintana disputes the UCI's findings and has appealed the disqualification with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but as tramadol use is only an offence under the UCI Medical Rules , he was not banned from competition.
The UCI ban only stands 'in competition', and a WADA ban would not prevent tramadol being taken legally out of competition, although it would prevent athletes using it to play through pain or injury, making it unlikely that a therapeutic use exemption — official medical document giving an athlete permission to take a medication that is ordinarily prohibited for the treatment of a legitimate condition — would be granted either.
Ahead of its ban in 2019, concerns had been raised that the powerful painkiller could heighten the risk of crashes due to the drug's side effects of nausea, drowsiness and loss of concentration, as well as possible addiction.